It is often desirable to affix an indicia bearing label to items such as garments, bed linens, etc., for identification purposes. Commonly, some form of adhesive label is used for this purpose, e.g., tapes having a heat sensitive coating on one side to allow application of the label to the identified item in a substantially permanent manner by application of heat and pressure from an iron. The identifying marks are placed on the surface of the tape opposite the heat-sensitive coating with a suitable permanent marking material.
For convenience, marking tape assemblies have been provided wherein the tape is initially positioned beneath a sheet having the marking material incorporated therein and transferable to the type by pressure. A sheet of carbon paper, for example, may be superposed with the tape strip and suitable means provided for temporarily retaining the two in superposed relation. After the desired markings are made on the tape surface by applying localized pressure to the carbon paper, the tape is applied to the item to be identified and the remainder of the assembly discarded.
One of the difficulties encountered in the use of such assemblies is that, due to the small size thereof, it is often inconvenient to hold the assembly while applying the markings. The present invention is particularly directed to the provision of a marking tape assembly which is easily and firmly held in position while markings are being applied thereto by handwriting, typewriting, etc.